During my recent trip to the eastern parts of Washington and Oregon, I stayed at a bed and breakfast owned by a family that includes two young boys. It turns out that Arden, the five year old, is fascinated by photography. He carries around a small camera his father gave him, and I was the […] Read more

I am announcing a new project here at Honey Bee Suite, a collaboration with Bill Reynolds of Minnesota. Credit the idea to Bill. He mentioned that many beekeepers don’t know what their bees are foraging on simply because they can’t identify the plants. So he thought it would be useful to link the list of […] Read more

I am finding it hard to get motivated to post anything after last week’s wholesale theft of a photo I posted here. The photo of a honey bee secreting wax from her wax glands was the work of one of my regular readers and is truly awesome. The trouble started like this: Last week after […] Read more

After I complained about bees doing a quick turn-around just as I tried to shoot a portrait, Debbe in Delaware sent me her best bee butt photo which is nothing short of fantastic. It is certainly one of the best photos I have ever seen of wax glands in action. She writes: I took this […] Read more

People keep asking me how to photograph bees. I think this is funny—a little like asking your 911 operator how to do brain surgery. You see, I don’t know how to photograph like a pro, I just do it with dogged persistence. But since the requests keep coming in, I’ll play along. Don’t laugh. I […] Read more

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The Beekeeper’s Handbook

The Valkyrie Long Hive

Bee Wise

Bee-yond Bees

Bees are more than a hobby;
they are a life study,
in many respects a mirror
of our own society.

—William Longgood

Why Honey Bee is Two Words

Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

State Insects

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas

Georgia

Kansas

Louisiana

Maine

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

New Jersey

North Carolina

Oklahoma

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

Vermont

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

iNaturalist

Where Are Your Hives?

Beekeepers are everywhere. Each time someone visits Honey Bee Suite, his or her location will appear on the map.

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Mission Statement

Honey Bee Suite is dedicated to honey bees, beekeeping, wild bees, other pollinators, and pollination ecology. It is designed to be informative and fun, but also to remind readers that pollinators throughout the world are endangered. Although they may seem small and insignificant, pollinators are vital to anyone who eats.